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Whoa! Stop the boat! First off I never meant to imply I'm any better or more entitled than anyone here just because I've been around longer.
I agree 100% that if an artisan here on TDH made an agreement and accepted money and fails to fulfill his or her's obligation it is a load of cr@p, however as already posted it is a sad fact that happens all to often.
This hobbie IS NOT a quick process, especialy if your relying on others to help you.
According to Chucks profile he hasn't even been active on TDH in three months so making an intire post to slam him is rather useless if your trying to motivate him to ship your orders quicker, and actualy border line "flaming" which is a violation of the code of conduct.
I sincerely understand your concerns and frustration, however Chuck is a well respected member here at TDH and to my knowledge has NEVER burned anyone.
The bottom line is he makes a top-notch product for the price and I think it would be hard to find better for the price, which is the pay-off of having to wait.
New members usually don't understand this and end-up getting very upset with this waiting game and in the end it all works out. Will you get it as soon as you had hoped for? Probably not. However he will come through, he always does.

pennywise, i totally agree with you, bud...chuck does have good stuff, that is not the problem...its not even waiting...its NOT KNOWING....the lack of communication when the money has been spent is what is freaking members out...all he has to do is drop a line...what did FettPride do in his decision to back out for awhile...i was not here when that happened, but i knew what happened cause he told everyone....when vendors dont let buyers know what is going on with their money, it is wrong, and i dont care what kind of reputation he may have or any other vendor may have, if you dont communicate, that rep goes you know where!! if you have never been shafted before, you wouldnt understand....yes, chuck has a great rep, i even referred him to someone who is being shafted right now by him...was he reputable when i referred him? yes...does that mean he wont shaft you, obviously not...if it is so difficult to type a little note saying what is going on, you really shouldnt be doing this kind of thing...it is disrespectful, and dishonest...MOW, Bobamaker, GalacticBountyHunter, just to name a few, let people know what is going on...dont tell me you cant just drop a line...dont tell me you cant go to the post office cause of some incident...if my stuff is ready, have someone else take it to the post office...have someone else type up a note here...i recall SpideyFett did that for Taco a few days ago...if i see my hamburger sitting under the heat lamp at mcdonalds, i expect someone to go get it for me if the clerk is taking another order!! it is not rocket science fellas...it is respect and character....

Pennywise... you're absolutely right. This should not have become a thread to bash Chuck. I didn't participate in it for that reason at all. I simply wanted to know if something had happened to him, since he was always very good about sending progress emails. There had been a blackout with that regard for about a month, though.

I heard from him today and he has had some medical issues which have prevented him from being as productive as he would like to be. But he assured me that he works on our backorders as much as physically possible right now, and I got the impression that he has a lot of our stuff done and ready to ship within the week.

In my contact with him today, I simply urged him to keep in contact... even if it's just to inform us of more delays.

Penny,I would like to apologize for my previous post:o. I though you were saying our complaints were uncalled for and that we were just causing a ruckus because of the Newb status. It is MY bad and hope there is no hard feelings. I fully agree with your new post, he does deliver...just not in the most effecient way. I hope this does get better but you have a point...he really isn't an active TDHer anymore. Also I feel that Ruffkin is a good guy, I am not saying he is a slime. He just isn't the best at keeping us in the know and saying something and not following through. I do pray the he heals from his injury as I am sure it is somethign not to be taken lightly.

So I got my tracking number, sent priority. He said should arrive in 2 days. If so, that gives me enough time to get stuff ready.

And I hope Chuck does not mind me posting this, but in the email he kind of explained things a little, he stated:"Well the knock in the head sent me into extreme pain for days/weeks as well as having some memory loss for a little while. Mainly short term stuff I had just done or was just thinking about. I'm getting better with everything now though."

Pennywise... you're absolutely right. This should not have become a thread to bash Chuck. I didn't participate in it for that reason at all. I simply wanted to know if something had happened to him, since he was always very good about sending progress emails. There had been a blackout with that regard for about a month, though.

I heard from him today and he has had some medical issues which have prevented him from being as productive as he would like to be. But he assured me that he works on our backorders as much as physically possible right now, and I got the impression that he has a lot of our stuff done and ready to ship within the week.

In my contact with him today, I simply urged him to keep in contact... even if it's just to inform us of more delays.

I disagree with the sentiments that this was an "anti-Chuck Ruffkin" thread. It started as a need for information and became a means for others to voice there concerns about artisans not following through on agreements. If you think about it, it served two purposes.
1)Allowed people voice oppinions and vent
2)Taugh less experienced members (like myself) that it may take a long while to obtain parts from people no matter how good the reputation is.

Chuck just happened to be the lead off point that made this possible. I am sorry that he got his name drug through the mud a little but I really think it might have taken this thread to get him moving again. I am pretty sure that more positive things were said about him than negative. He has friends that probably callled him to spur him on after reading this. I don't think that rules were broken even in the slightest. If people can't voice their concerns on here then what good is a site like this. I think this thread actually built Chuck's reputation more.

For all those that posted I say KUDOS and keep it up. As many voices are louder than one...
-Ivan_

Hey glad to see everyone getting at last a response!!! Now to get those "I got it" posts. I think this thread did serve its purpose and did help people vent, allow others to be aware, and hopefully correct a problem.

Chuck is a good guy and still I would recommend him for gauntlets. I hope no one reading this thread would see Chuck as being sly. I would just recommend that if you need them in a crunch...there are other gauntlets out there, you will just have to pay more for the quickness.
cheers!

I certainly would not turn people away from Chuck, rather I'd advise them not to order in the Summer months. Cons take a lot of time out of his schedule, so other than those busy months for him, he would still be a top choice to get great pieces at an attractive price.

One thing tho, that Chuck may not have been aware of, since he is using the USPS to ship my stuff, is that you can go on the usps website and schedule a pick up AT YOUR HOUSE. That would have saved him a bunch of trouble, if he was unable to get out of the house.

El1te, your right we are a family. But it seems that he is done with the family. I don't know whats going on with the guy but did he really need to post that!?!?!? It was uncalled for. A family member wouldn't lie to us and pretend like everyhting is Ok when he holds a "issue" towards us. I hope I am not out of line on this but that really got under my skin. I don't know if he was referring to me or to a couple of us or to someone specific but really? Again sorry if I got out of line but that is my bit.
Now lets continue with the ACTUAL discussion at hand.